Hidden Meanings

Author: Kate
Category: Bill
Language: English, Rated: T
Genres: General/Romance
Chapters: 2, Words: 3,206, Reviews: 12
Updated: 9-2-10 Published: 2-10-07
Status: In-Progress

---

A mystery phone call sets Andrea and Neil on a new adventure, just when their lives are beginning to settle down, one that could put all their lives in danger, and some faces from the past return to Sun Hill.


Rating: R to be safe, but PG-13 should cover it.

Keywords: Neil/Andrea. Secrets.

Summary: A mystery phone call sets Andrea and Neil on a new adventure, just when their lives are beginning to settle down, one that could put all their lives in danger, and some faces from the past return to Sun Hill.

Archive: Anywhere else that wants it, just let me know first.

Spoilers: A few slight references to the episodes concerning Beech's corruption, and a couple to the end of Andrea's time at Sun Hill but nothing major. Also minor references to some of my very first fan fiction stories, The Trouble With Beech Saga, but they're mainly just names and place references.

Disclaimer: The Bill and anything associated with it doesn't belong to me. Never have and never will. I'm just playing with the characters for a while.

Author's Notes: Something I came up with when reading through some of Gem6's old stories on I don't want to give anything away so I won't say much, just, see if you can guess who the mystery character's are. I'll give you a clue, they have all either appeared or been mentioned on an episode of The Bill and the places for the secret meetings are significant too. Not much help I know, but if I say anymore I'll give it away, the answers are in chapter two.

- Part 1: Secret Meetings -

"It's time," Neil says poking his head around the locker room door.

I look at him questionably for a minute before I realise what he's talking about.

"Ok, I'll be there in a minute," I say to him, pulling my jumper over my head.

"Is something the matter Sir?" I hear Yvonne ask from behind me.

"No, everything's fine, just passing on a message."

I struggle to hide a giggle at the hidden meaning the conversation holds if only Yvonne decided to look beneath the surface. We have devised a sort of code, to enable us to discuss private matters at work without anyone knowing what we're talking about.

"Ok then," says Yvonne giving him a sceptical look, then marching into the locker room.

I quickly brush past her and hurry down the corridor in the direction Neil has just gone in, knowing that if I stop, even for a minute, Yvonne will be all over me with questions about what I'm doing.

I finally catch up with Neil in the car park and leap into his car. Together we speed out of the station and into the maze of streets around us.

We finally arrive at our destination, a spot by the river, just outside the Canley Borough. We take shelter from the pouring rain underneath a magnificent white bridge, and wait for our companions to arrive.

Five minutes later a man and a woman come hurrying towards us, using a coat to protect them from the rain. They stop just in front of us to catch there breath. "Well?" the woman says after a minute or two.

"We've seen nothing conclusive so far, but it's early days I guess," Neil says in his serious work tone.

"OK, I know this is gonna be difficult, but we need to find out how far this has spread, if anyone else is involved we need to step up surveillance on them as soon as we can, damage limitation. Is he close to anyone in particular?"

"Not that we can tell at the moment but ...,"

"I know its not easy, hell, I should know more than anybody what your going through, but we need as much information as we can get before we make a move. Is there anyway you can get closer to him, y'know, and do a bit of discreet digging?"

"Possibly, but ... I'll see what we can do," answers Neil.

"Ok, call if you find anything interesting, otherwise we'll meet in a couple of days as planned, and the boss wants to meet you so, be prepared, he's not exactly known for being understanding."

"Will do." we answer.

The man and woman disappear in the direction they came from and after a minute or two to ensure we're not being followed, we head for home ourselves.

We arrive home and I curl up on the sofa, exhausted from the busy day. It's almost like going back in time, back to when we first started out.

We've been together a good few years now, and still nobody knows about our relationship. We thought we'd made it pretty obvious, especially at times, but I'm beginning to wander. No ones commented on the fact that Neil drives me to work of a morning and takes me home every night, or that we spend a lot of time together both inside and outside of work. No ones ever asked any awkward questions, well not since Yvonne and the mystery boyfriend mess, which I finally sorted out by saying I wouldn't tell her who it was because we were over. It may have been true at the time, but we got back together two months later and she's never said anything since.

That was about the same time I told Neil I was an undercover journalist, when Bruce threatened to expose me, but after a big elaborate hoax, where many people thought I was dead, I managed to put that saga behind me and move on with the future.

Now, Neil lives with me in a small house not far from where I used to live, he divorced his wife, when he along with everyone else, thought I was dead, realising that he had never really loved her at all. Not long after that time I fell pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl who's named Alison. She's three now and doing very well. Everything was going fine in our lives until about 2 weeks ago.

Two Weeks Previously

I wake up and reach out an arm to answer the ringing telephone.

"Hello," I say into it sleepily.

"Is this Andrea Dunbar, from Sun Hill Police Station?" asks a voice that I don't recognise.

"Yes, who's this?"

"That, I cannot answer just yet; It is my understanding that you work at Sun Hill Police station, and have recently had a new DC who goes by the name of Steve Guard,"

I don't answer, just let the information sink in wondering who this person is, and how they know all of this.

"We believe that this DC Guard, may be connected to someone who we've been tracking for quiet some time, in connection to an old Sun Hill case, and we was hoping you may be able to help us."

"I don't know how that …"

"Meet us in the Safeway car park on the park boundary at 2pm, this afternoon, and we'll explain everything. You can bring one person with you, someone you trust entirely, who will not mention any of this to anyone."

"Ok," I nod helplessly.

"You must not mention this conversation to anyone, your life could depend on it."

Present

That was two weeks ago, I went to the meeting in the car park, taking Neil with me for support. They explained everything as promised and we got chosen to help out, to be their eyes and ears on the inside. Everyday I wonder if this is such a good idea, if ever we get found out, our lives and that of our families, could be in serious danger.

To Be Continued...


Author's Notes:


So, have you figured out who the mystery characters are yet? No? Ok one more clue:


Try reading Corruption or some of my other early stories in The Trouble With Beech Saga and yes the DC's name is significant, but I doubt you'll figure that one out.


Leave your guesses in a review.

---

Ok, the answers to the mystery characters are:


At the end of this chapter, lol.


Thanks to everybody who reviewed:


Little People - you're partially right. Glad you like it, here's the next chapter.


$$- $l-lL£Y -$$ - Not a bad guess, but not quite right, I was thinking of using Beech originally, but it didn't fit the plot, although he may make an appearance or two in later chapters so do stay tuned.


JACQUI - Glad you like it, here's more to feed your addiction.


Phoenix Angelwolf - I agree with the lack of Andrea/Neil stories at the moment, I'm missing them too, but don't panic, i've got several stories with them in planned, so hopefully they should be making an appearance someday soon.


thebillforever - I'm glad you like it, here's the next chapter.


Strizzy - Thank you, I hope you like this chapter as well.


Gem6 - Ahh, my ever faithful reviewer, yeah, i think i confused everyone with the name change, myself included, but you found me now, and that's the main thing. Your right, you have seen the first chapter before, I sent you a link when i first wrote it, but was reluctant to put it up because i was at a dead end for the next chapter. And about your quiz night competition, don't panic, it's in no way even close to being completed yet, I've barely got a plot and a few of the quiz questions, but I'll finish it one day, even if I'm 50.


This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has reviewed and my best friend Claire, who keeps begging me to write more Andrea/Neil fanfics. Enjoy everyone.


Oh yeah, ignore any inaccuracies, this one hasn't been checked, and if anyone has any ideas for the next chapter, please share em with me cause I'm a bit stuck for ideas.

- Part 2: Meet The Boss -

Four days have passed since our meeting under the bridge in the rain, we are now in a pub, in a neighbouring borough, about to meet the boss of our contacts. We have been told that he can be quite opinionated and very sarcastic, we have also been told, he gets angry when provoked, but also a soft side which is rarely shown except to those he cares a lot about.

I am nervous yet excited and squeeze Neil's hand for reassurance and support. This is the biggest operation I have ever been involved in. Bigger than the Super's drug charge, bigger than Gabriel Kent, bigger than Bruce and everything else in the past. It is also the most important and therefore a very risky operation.

Four people come walking towards our table, two of them familiar, the other two total strangers.

"Neil, Andrea," our contacts greet us when they meet us, "We'd like you to meet the bosses of this operation, Stephen and Marion."

We all refer to each other on a first name basis, so as not to arose the suspicions of anyone who may overhear our meetings.

After being properly introduced we all sit down and get to work, discussing what we know and suspect about this DC Guard.

"I know you've been wary all along about this, and what it all means, and I think it's about time to fill you in on the details," starts the man we've just met, "I'm not sure whether or not you know, but a few years before you joined there was a big corruption case in Sun Hill CID. An officer by the name of Don Beech was found to be corrupt."

"I heard about that," I butt in enthusiastically.

"Yes, well, what wasn't revealed was that Beech had some mates, from the Area Drug Squad, who were also corrupt. They went by the names DS Tasker and DS Garrard. Now this is the bit you won't have heard, we caught Beech and thought he was in secure surroundings, but he somehow escaped to Australia; As soon as we realized we traced him and followed him, but he escaped again by faking his own death in a road accident. We returned back here exhausted and frustrated, but glad it was all over. Or at least we thought it was over."

Claire takes over the explanations, "We was called out on a case a few months after the great adventure as I call it, a dead body found in an abandoned factory. That's where it gets strange; apparently Beech was still alive and had set up a bomb in the factory to eliminate us. Luckily we managed to get out at the last minute"

"To cut a long story short, we caught him and locked him up again, and were glad it was all over and we could get on with our lives."

"But what's that got to do with this?" asks Neil.

"Well put basically the person you know as DC Guard, is also known as DS Steve Garrard from the area drugs squad."

"But that's impossible," I exclaim.

"It's not, with a good disguise and a change of name, he doesn't arose anybodies suspicions."

"I … I don't understand!"

"What we're saying is the target 'Guard', is using another name to protect his real identity. He is really DS Steve Garrard, formally an area drugs officer, who was suspended on a Corruption charge, then escaped custody."

Stephen resumes the explanations, "We're not happy that he escaped, hell we spent months searching for him afterwards but, to no avail. Now we've finally located him again we need your help to capture him, to force his hand."

A few hours later we are back home thinking over the information we have just been given. Never would I have imagined this case to be so complicated. Who would have thought that CIB could loose so many suspects in such a short amount of time?

I give up thinking about it for now, settling down to sleep next to Neil, glad to have a bit of time for just the two of us. Something we haven't had much of recently.

Just as I am about to fall asleep the phone rings beside me. Not really thinking about what he's doing, Neil reaches over me and picks up the phone.

It's only after he's said hello that he realizes his mistake.

"Shit," he curses under his breath upon figuring out what he's done, "Hang on a sec," he says to the person on the phone before passing the phone to me and whispering who's calling.

"Hello," I mumble sleepily.

"Hey Andz, what are ya doin? An am I imagining things or did the DI just answer your phone?"

How can I possibly answer that without giving everything away? "Erm yeah," I finally answer, "Just come back from a meeting with an informant and he gave me a lift home," I hope that's believable.

"I still say he fancies you," she jokes.

"Whatever, look I'm tired, can we catch up tomorrow or something?"

"I guess, ohh talking about the DI, you'll never guess what I saw the other day?"

"What?" I answer not really that interested.

"He was walking through the station with a little girl, she must've been about 3 or 4, lovely black curly hair, a bit like yours. Dunno who she was, but she defiantly knew him."

I laugh silently, of course he knows his own daughter, for a while there I forgot Yvonne and the others didn't know. Maybe it's time to reveal a few secrets. I look over at Neil for silent conformation. A nod of his head indicates he doesn't mind me divulging this little secret.

"Was she wearing a red dress?" I ask trying to prolong the inevitable.

"Yeah, you know her?"

"Kind of, her names Allison, she's 3 year's old, and to quote you, of cause the DI knows her, she's his daughter!"

"His daughter? I thought maybe a niece or something, but a daughter? I never knew he was seeing anybody!"

"You and nearly everybody else at Sun Hill, it's weird how people miss the obvious don't you think? And don't feel too bad about not figuring it out, it's a secret for a reason."

"What reason, or better still how did you know about it?"

"It's a secret because we all know how fast gossip travels around the station, he didn't want to cause a fuss, you would do the same thing in a similar situation."

"How did you find out about it though?"

"Erm, how can I explain that one, I'm kinda involved in it all," I explain, carefully choosing my words, this undercover work sure has its benefits.

"Ok, well I better let you get to sleep then, night, but I want a full explanation in the morning."

"Alright, night," I say, "come round before breakfast in the morning and the answer will be right in front of you," I whisper not realizing she's heard my last comment.

With one last goodnight, we end the call. I put the phone back on the dresser before rolling over and curling up into Neil's side. Within a few minutes we are both fast asleep.

To Be Continued...


The Answers are:

1. Mystery man 1: DS John Boulton
2. Mystery Woman: DS Claire Stanton
3. Mystery man and woman's boss: Detective Superintendent Stephen Hodges (Claire's CIB Boss)
4. DC Guard: DS Steve Garrard - Beech's bent mate from the drug squad.
5. and the other woman from the meeting is Marion Raye (My own character from the Trouble with Beech Saga)

Do you remember them now?


Don't forget to review.